Tyson Fury’s October 24th world heavyweight title challenge to dominant lineal champion Wladimir Klitschko at the 54,600 capacity Espirit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany is poised for a sell-out according to Fury’s long-time promoter Mick Hennessy.
The fight, which became a done deal at the 11th hour ahead of a scheduled purse bid, has seen a huge demand for tickets from passionate Brits who believe the giant 6ft 9″ challenger may well be able to pull off the upset over the Ukrainian WBO/WBA and IBF champion, especially given the rare size advantages Fury is set to enjoy over “Dr. Steelhammer.”
“We’re already close to selling 40,000 tickets and it is guaranteed to be a 55,000 sell-out,” Hennessy said via the Mirror.co.uk.
“It’s selling brilliantly and worldwide this fight could be worth more than £30 million.”
The fight will air on HBO for the American fans, as part of Wladimir’s current deal with the broadcaster, though sadly for British fans, the television rights are to be snapped up by Sky Box Office after a rumoured “disagreement” between Hennessy and fellow promoter Frank Warren, who along with Russian mogul Vlad Hrunov, had prepared an $18 million purse bid offer to stage the fight that was in turn rendered obsolete by Hennessy Sports and K2 doing a deal ahead of the purse-bid deadline.
This perceived “disagreement” has in turn led to the Frank Warren affiliated channel Boxnation pulling a pre-prepared £12 million bid for the UK TV rights, and due to a lack of available financial revenue from terrestrial rivals ITV and Channel 5, Sky Box Office will get to call the shots – essentially by default – and charge fans around £15 on top of their normal Sky TV monthly subscription fee.
It’s bad news for hardcore fans in the country who will already have Boxnation and would not have had to “pay twice” had the channel screened the fight, and it’s also bad news for Fury, who will reportedly take a significant financial hit as a result.
Such is life as they say…
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
